Ed Bearss
Encyclopedia
Edwin Cole Bearss a United States Marine Corps
veteran
of World War II, is a military historian and author known for his work on the American Civil War
and World War II eras and is a popular tour guide of historic battlefields. He served as Chief Historian of the National Park Service
from 1981 to 1994.
, the elder son of Omar Effinger Bearss and Virginia Louise Morse Bearss. He grew up on the rugged family cattle ranch, the "E bar S", near Sarpy, Montana, through the depths of the Great Depression
. His father, a Marine in World War I, read accounts of military campaigns to young Ed and his brother, but Ed's lifelong interest in military history was jump-started by a biography of the dashing Confederate cavalry
general J.E.B. Stuart
by John Thomason
. Ed named many of the ranch animals after famous general and battles; his favorite milk cow was Antietam
.
. He was with the 3d Marine Raider Battalion in the invasion of Guadalcanal
and the Russell Islands
and 7th Regiment, 1st Marine Division, in New Britain
.
On January 2, 1944, Bearss was severely wounded at "Suicide Creek" (Cape Gloucester, New Britain
) by Japanese
machine gun
fire. He was evacuated to California
, and spent 26 months recovering in various hospitals. He was honorably discharged from the Marines as a corporal on March 15, 1946, and returned home to Montana
.
, from which he obtained a B.S. degree
in Foreign Service studies in 1949. He worked for three years in the United States Navy Hydrographic Office in Maryland
and used his spare time to visit numerous Civil War battlefields in the East. He received his M.A.
in history from Indiana University
in 1955, writing his thesis on Confederate General Patrick Cleburne
. As part of his research, he visited the Western Theater battlefields on which Cleburne fought, telling friends, "You can't describe a battlefield unless you walk it." In February 2005, Lincoln College
awarded Bearss an honorary doctorate, and in May 2010, Gettysburg College
awarded him an honorary doctorate of humane letters.
On the battlefield of Shiloh
in 1954, he made a career decision inspired by the park historian he met, Charles E. (Pete) Shedd: interpretation of battles in the field was far more interesting than the academic study of history in an office. Although attracted to a National Park Service
career, he first joined the Office of the Chief of Military History, U.S. Army, but soon took work as an historian at Vicksburg National Military Park
, Vicksburg, Mississippi
. It was at Vicksburg that he met his wife, Margie Riddle Bearss (1925–2006), also a Civil War historian; they were married on July 30, 1958. They first lived in the Leila Luckett House in Vicksburg formerly occupied by then-Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant
's soldiers in 1863, and eventually had three children: Sara Beth, Edwin Cole, Jr., and Mary Virginia (Jenny).
. He also located two forgotten forts at Grand Gulf, Mississippi. He was promoted in 1958 to Southeast regional historian, working out of Vicksburg, but he spent the majority of his time on the road, visiting virtually every battlefield in the country. As popular interest in the Civil War increased with the centennial celebrations starting in 1961, Bearss was recognized as more knowledgeable on the battlefields than virtually anyone else and he was enlisted to develop a variety of new parks, including Pea Ridge
and Wilson's Creek
. During his long NPS career, he also led efforts in Fort Smith
; Stones River
, Fort Donelson
; battlefields around Richmond, Bighorn Canyon; the Eisenhower Farm
at Gettysburg
; the gold miners' route over Chilkoot Pass; President Lyndon B. Johnson
's Ranch; Fort Moultrie; Fort Point
; William Howard Taft
House; Fort Hancock at the Boston Navy Yard; and the Herbert Hoover
National Historic Site.
In 1966 Bearss was transferred to Washington, D.C.
On November 1, 1981, he was named Chief Historian of the National Park Service, a position he held until 1994. From 1994 to 1995 he served as special assistant to the director. After his retirement in 1995, he received the title Chief Historian Emeritus, which he holds to this day.
and participated in the creation of its College of Marine Arts
. He was active in the Society's efforts to raise the wreck of the Civil War submarine Hunley
, which had been found off Charleston, South Carolina, in 1970.
s, as Japan and Australia do, Bearss should be an immediate honoree.
Bearss started interpretative touring as part of his official duties in Vicksburg, leading eight one-hour tours a day. Although he was no longer required to do so after 1958, he kept it up as an avocation
on weekends. He attracted ROTC classes, active-duty military officers and VIPs, and other historians. Beginning in 1961, he began annual tours for the prestigious Chicago Civil War Roundtable
. One of his greatest challenges was his annual tours of Vicksburg for the Louisiana
School for the Blind and Deaf. He is a lifetime honorary member of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
, to which he has spoken many times, beginning in 1962 and as recently as 2004.
Currently, Bearss, in his eighties, continues to lead numerous tours—traveling as many as 200 days per year—around the United States, the Pacific, and Europe. He routinely outpaces his much younger guests in charging over rough terrain, recreating the color of famous infantry and cavalry attacks.
Bearss lives in Arlington County, Virginia
.
As editor:
Contributor:
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
veteran
Veteran
A veteran is a person who has had long service or experience in a particular occupation or field; " A veteran of ..."...
of World War II, is a military historian and author known for his work on the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
and World War II eras and is a popular tour guide of historic battlefields. He served as Chief Historian of the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
from 1981 to 1994.
Early life
Bearss was born in Billings, MontanaBillings, Montana
Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, and is the principal city of the Billings Metropolitan Area, the largest metropolitan area in over...
, the elder son of Omar Effinger Bearss and Virginia Louise Morse Bearss. He grew up on the rugged family cattle ranch, the "E bar S", near Sarpy, Montana, through the depths of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. His father, a Marine in World War I, read accounts of military campaigns to young Ed and his brother, but Ed's lifelong interest in military history was jump-started by a biography of the dashing Confederate cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
general J.E.B. Stuart
J.E.B. Stuart
James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart was a U.S. Army officer from Virginia and a Confederate States Army general during the American Civil War. He was known to his friends as "Jeb", from the initials of his given names. Stuart was a cavalry commander known for his mastery of reconnaissance and the use...
by John Thomason
John Thomason
John William Thomason, Jr. was a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Marine Corps, as well as an author and illustrator of several books and magazine stories....
. Ed named many of the ranch animals after famous general and battles; his favorite milk cow was Antietam
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam , fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, as part of the Maryland Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000...
.
World War II
Bearss graduated from Hardin High School in May 1941 and hitchhiked around the United States, visiting his first Civil War battlefields. He enlisted in the Marine Corps on April 28, 1942, and by July was on a troop transport to the Pacific WarPacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
. He was with the 3d Marine Raider Battalion in the invasion of Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568...
and the Russell Islands
Russell Islands
The Russell Islands are two small islands, as well as several islets, of volcanic origin, in the Central Province of the Solomon Islands. They are located approximately 48 km northwest from Guadalcanal. The islands are partially covered in coconut plantations, and have a copra and oil factory at...
and 7th Regiment, 1st Marine Division, in New Britain
New Britain
New Britain, or Niu Briten, is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from the island of New Guinea by the Dampier and Vitiaz Straits and from New Ireland by St. George's Channel...
.
On January 2, 1944, Bearss was severely wounded at "Suicide Creek" (Cape Gloucester, New Britain
New Britain
New Britain, or Niu Briten, is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from the island of New Guinea by the Dampier and Vitiaz Straits and from New Ireland by St. George's Channel...
) by Japanese
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
fire. He was evacuated to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, and spent 26 months recovering in various hospitals. He was honorably discharged from the Marines as a corporal on March 15, 1946, and returned home to Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
.
Postwar education
Bearss used the G.I. Bill to finance his education at Georgetown UniversityGeorgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
, from which he obtained a B.S. degree
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
in Foreign Service studies in 1949. He worked for three years in the United States Navy Hydrographic Office in Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
and used his spare time to visit numerous Civil War battlefields in the East. He received his M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in history from Indiana University
Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington is a public research university located in Bloomington, Indiana, in the United States. IU Bloomington is the flagship campus of the Indiana University system. Being the flagship campus, IU Bloomington is often referred to simply as IU or Indiana...
in 1955, writing his thesis on Confederate General Patrick Cleburne
Patrick Cleburne
Patrick Ronayne Cleburne was an Irish American soldier, best known for his service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, where he rose to the rank of major general....
. As part of his research, he visited the Western Theater battlefields on which Cleburne fought, telling friends, "You can't describe a battlefield unless you walk it." In February 2005, Lincoln College
Lincoln College, Illinois
- History of the college :Lincoln College in Lincoln, Illinois was established in 1865 by the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. There were a few sites that were looked at as possibilities, and in December 1864, the site of Lincoln was selected...
awarded Bearss an honorary doctorate, and in May 2010, Gettysburg College
Gettysburg College
Gettysburg College is a private four-year liberal arts college founded in 1832, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, United States, adjacent to the famous battlefield. Its athletic teams are nicknamed the Bullets. Gettysburg College has about 2,700 students, with roughly equal numbers of men and women...
awarded him an honorary doctorate of humane letters.
On the battlefield of Shiloh
Battle of Shiloh
The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was a major battle in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, fought April 6–7, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee. A Union army under Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant had moved via the Tennessee River deep into Tennessee and...
in 1954, he made a career decision inspired by the park historian he met, Charles E. (Pete) Shedd: interpretation of battles in the field was far more interesting than the academic study of history in an office. Although attracted to a National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
career, he first joined the Office of the Chief of Military History, U.S. Army, but soon took work as an historian at Vicksburg National Military Park
Vicksburg National Military Park
Vicksburg National Military Park preserves the site of the American Civil War Battle of Vicksburg, waged from May 18 to July 4, 1863. The park, in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and Delta, Louisiana, also commemorates the greater Vicksburg Campaign, which preceded the battle. Reconstructed forts and...
, Vicksburg, Mississippi
Vicksburg, Mississippi
Vicksburg is a city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the only city in Warren County. It is located northwest of New Orleans on the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers, and due west of Jackson, the state capital. In 1900, 14,834 people lived in Vicksburg; in 1910, 20,814; in 1920,...
. It was at Vicksburg that he met his wife, Margie Riddle Bearss (1925–2006), also a Civil War historian; they were married on July 30, 1958. They first lived in the Leila Luckett House in Vicksburg formerly occupied by then-Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
's soldiers in 1863, and eventually had three children: Sara Beth, Edwin Cole, Jr., and Mary Virginia (Jenny).
National Park Service
At Vicksburg, Bearss did the research leading him and two friends to the long-lost Union gunboat U.S.S. CairoUSS Cairo (1861)
USS Cairo was a City class ironclad gunboat constructed for the Union Navy by James B. Eads during the American Civil War. She was the first vessel of the City class ironclads, also called the Cairo class....
. He also located two forgotten forts at Grand Gulf, Mississippi. He was promoted in 1958 to Southeast regional historian, working out of Vicksburg, but he spent the majority of his time on the road, visiting virtually every battlefield in the country. As popular interest in the Civil War increased with the centennial celebrations starting in 1961, Bearss was recognized as more knowledgeable on the battlefields than virtually anyone else and he was enlisted to develop a variety of new parks, including Pea Ridge
Battle of Pea Ridge
The Battle of Pea Ridge was a land battle of the American Civil War, fought on March 6–8, 1862, at Pea Ridge in northwest Arkansas, near Garfield. In the battle, Union forces led by Brig. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis defeated Confederate troops under Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn. The outcome of the...
and Wilson's Creek
Battle of Wilson's Creek
The Battle of Wilson's Creek, also known as the Battle of Oak Hills, was fought on August 10, 1861, near Springfield, Missouri, between Union forces and the Missouri State Guard, early in the American Civil War. It was the first major battle of the war west of the Mississippi River and is sometimes...
. During his long NPS career, he also led efforts in Fort Smith
Fort Smith National Historic Site
Fort Smith National Historic Site is a United States National Historic Site located primarily in Fort Smith, Arkansas along the Arkansas River, and also along the opposite bank of the river near Moffett, Oklahoma....
; Stones River
Battle of Stones River
The Battle of Stones River or Second Battle of Murfreesboro , was fought from December 31, 1862, to January 2, 1863, in Middle Tennessee, as the culmination of the Stones River Campaign in the Western Theater of the American Civil War...
, Fort Donelson
Fort Donelson
Fort Donelson was a fortress built by the Confederacy during the American Civil War to control the Cumberland River leading to the heart of Tennessee, and the heart of the Confederacy.-History:...
; battlefields around Richmond, Bighorn Canyon; the Eisenhower Farm
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
at Gettysburg
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Gettysburg is a borough that is the county seat, part of the Gettysburg Battlefield, and the eponym for the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg. The town hosts visitors to the Gettysburg National Military Park and has 3 institutions of higher learning: Lutheran Theological Seminary, Gettysburg College, and...
; the gold miners' route over Chilkoot Pass; President Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
's Ranch; Fort Moultrie; Fort Point
Fort Point
Fort Point is located at the southern side of the Golden Gate at the entrance to San Francisco Bay. This fort was completed just before the American Civil War, to defend San Francisco Bay against hostile warships...
; William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
House; Fort Hancock at the Boston Navy Yard; and the Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
National Historic Site.
In 1966 Bearss was transferred to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
On November 1, 1981, he was named Chief Historian of the National Park Service, a position he held until 1994. From 1994 to 1995 he served as special assistant to the director. After his retirement in 1995, he received the title Chief Historian Emeritus, which he holds to this day.
Sea Research Society
In 1972 Bearss became a founding member of the Board of Advisors of Sea Research SocietySea Research Society
The Sea Research Society is a non-profit educational research organization founded in 1972. Its general purpose is to promote scientific and educational endeavors in any of the marine sciences or marine histories with the goal of obtaining knowledge for the ultimate benefit to mankind...
and participated in the creation of its College of Marine Arts
College of Marine Arts
The College of Marine Arts was operated as the Sea Research Society's formal higher education wing from 1972 until 1978. It was initially located in Columbia, South Carolina and later moved to Mount Pleasant, outside of Charleston where it was housed in the former Berkeley County courthouse...
. He was active in the Society's efforts to raise the wreck of the Civil War submarine Hunley
H. L. Hunley (submarine)
H. L. Hunley was a submarine of the Confederate States of America that played a small part in the American Civil War, but a large role in the history of naval warfare. The Hunley demonstrated both the advantages and the dangers of undersea warfare...
, which had been found off Charleston, South Carolina, in 1970.
Touring
Bearss is a consummate tour guide, bringing history alive to visitors of all knowledge levels, revealing encyclopedic stores of memory and enormous personal energy, but always with rich and colorful anecdotes. A Washington Post reporter described his style as "Homeric monologues." The Wall Street Journal wrote that he evokes "almost hallucinatory sensations." Historian Dennis Frye said a "battlefield [tour] with Ed Bearss [is a] transcendental experience." Admirers have suggested that, if the United States ever recognizes Living National TreasureLiving National Treasure
Living National Treasure or Living Human Treasure is a title awarded in several countries, and denotes a person or a group which is regarded as a national treasure while still alive....
s, as Japan and Australia do, Bearss should be an immediate honoree.
Bearss started interpretative touring as part of his official duties in Vicksburg, leading eight one-hour tours a day. Although he was no longer required to do so after 1958, he kept it up as an avocation
Avocation
An avocation is an activity that one engages in as a hobby outside one's main occupation. There are many examples of people whose professions were the ways that they made their livings, but for whom their activities outside of their workplaces were their true passions in life...
on weekends. He attracted ROTC classes, active-duty military officers and VIPs, and other historians. Beginning in 1961, he began annual tours for the prestigious Chicago Civil War Roundtable
Civil War Roundtable
Civil War Roundtables are a loosely organized group of independent organizations that share a common interest in the study, promotion, and recognition of the American Civil War...
. One of his greatest challenges was his annual tours of Vicksburg for the Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
School for the Blind and Deaf. He is a lifetime honorary member of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable is a nonprofit historical society and social group dedicated to the study and discussion of the American Civil War ....
, to which he has spoken many times, beginning in 1962 and as recently as 2004.
Currently, Bearss, in his eighties, continues to lead numerous tours—traveling as many as 200 days per year—around the United States, the Pacific, and Europe. He routinely outpaces his much younger guests in charging over rough terrain, recreating the color of famous infantry and cavalry attacks.
Bearss lives in Arlington County, Virginia
Arlington County, Virginia
Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The land that became Arlington was originally donated by Virginia to the United States government to form part of the new federal capital district. On February 27, 1801, the United States Congress organized the area as a subdivision of...
.
Honors
Bearss has received a number of awards and honors in the field of history and preservation:- Bruce CattonBruce CattonCharles Bruce Catton was an American historian and journalist, best known for his books on the American Civil War. Known as a narrative historian, Catton specialized in popular histories that emphasized colorful characters and historical vignettes, in addition to the basic facts, dates, and analyses...
Award - Alvin Calman Award
- Bell I. Wiley Award
- T. Harry WilliamsT. Harry WilliamsThomas Harry Williams was an award-winning historian at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge whose career began in 1941 and extended for thirty-eight years until his death at the age of seventy...
Award - Man of the Year at Vicksburg in 1963
- Harry S. TrumanHarry S. TrumanHarry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
Award for Meritorious Service in the field of Civil War History - Fellow of the Company of Military Historians
- Distinguished Service Award from the Department of Interior in 1983
- Commendation from the Secretary of the Army in 1985
- The Civil War Preservation TrustCivil War Preservation TrustThe Civil War Trust is a charitable organization whose primary focus is in the preservation of American Civil War battlefields. The Civil War Trust also promotes educational programs and heritage tourism initiatives to inform the public of the war's history and the fundamental conflicts that...
created the Ed Bearss Award for achievements in historic preservation and made him the first recipient in 2001 - Texas Star Award from the Texas Civil War Preservation Seminar in 2002
- T. Harry Gatton Award, Raleigh Civil War Roundtable in 2008
- A portrait bust of Bearss by Arthur Downey, a Washington, D.C., artist, was unveiled near the USS Cairo in the Vicksburg National Military Park on October 3, 2009.
Television commentary
- The Civil WarThe Civil War (documentary)The Civil War is a documentary film created by Ken Burns about the American Civil War. It was first broadcast on PBS on five consecutive nights from Sunday, September 23 to Thursday, September 27, 1990. Forty million viewers watched it during its initial broadcast, making it the most-watched...
, PBS series by Ken BurnsKen BurnsKenneth Lauren "Ken" Burns is an American director and producer of documentary films, known for his style of using archival footage and photographs... - Civil War Journal, A&E NetworkA&E NetworkThe A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
- Civil War Combat, History Channel
- Smithsonian's Great Battles of the Civil War, TLCTLC (TV channel)TLC is an American cable TV specialty channel which initially focused on educational content. Since 1991 TLC has been owned by Discovery Communications, the same company that operates the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and The Science Channel, as well as other learning-themed networks...
Selected works
- Decision in Mississippi, 1962
- Rebel Victory at Vicksburg, 1963
- Hardluck Ironclad: the Sinking and Salvage of the Cairo, 1966, Revised Edition 1980
- Steele's Retreat from Camden and the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry, 1967
- Fort Smith: Little Gibraltar on the Arkansas, with Dr. A. M. Gibson, 1969
- Protecting Sherman's Lifeline: The Battles of Brice's Cross Roads and Tupelo 1864, 1971
- The Battle of Wilson's Creek, 1975
- Forrest at Brice's Cross Roads, 1975
- The Battle of Jackson; The Siege of Jackson; and Three Other Post-Vicksburg Actions, 1981
- The Battle of Five Forks, with Chris Calkins, 1985
- Vicksburg is the Key, (Volume I of Vicksburg CampaignVicksburg CampaignThe Vicksburg Campaign was a series of maneuvers and battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War directed against Vicksburg, Mississippi, a fortress city that dominated the last Confederate-controlled section of the Mississippi River. The Union Army of the Tennessee under Maj. Gen....
trilogy), 1985 - Grant Strikes a Fatal Blow, (Volume II), 1986
- Unvexed to the Sea, (Volume III), 1986
- River of Lost Opportunities — The Civil War on the James River, 1995
- Smithsonian's Great Battles and Battlefields of the Civil War, with Jay Wertz, 1997
- Fields of Honor: Pivotal Battles of the Civil War, 2006
- Receding Tide: Vicksburg and Gettysburg, with J. Parker Hills, 2010
- with Bryce A. Suderow, The Petersburg Campaign: The Eastern Front Battles, June–August 1864, Volume 1, forthcoming October 2011
As editor:
- A Southern Record: History of the Third Louisiana Regiment, with Willie Tunnard, 1970
- A Louisiana Confederate: Diary of Felix Pierre Poché, 1972
- Memoirs of a Confederate, Historic and Personal Campaigns of the First Manassas Confederate Brigade, 1972
- Your Affectionate Husband, J. F. Culver: Letters Written during the Civil War, with Leslie W. Dunlap, 1978
- The Gettysburg Magazine, assistant editor since 1989
Contributor:
- The Civil War Battlefield Guide, edited by Frances H. Kennedy, 1998.
External links
- Americans at War video of Bearss
- Interview at the Pritzker Military LibraryPritzker Military LibraryThe Pritzker Military Library is a research library for the study of military history in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded in 2003 by COL James N. Pritzker, IL ARNG to be a non-partisan institution for the study of "the citizen soldier as an essential element for the preservation of...